Everyday innovation report - Nesta

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28 coverage can lead to risk aversion, even if the content of the media stories is not related to innovation” (Su Maddock, Director of Innovation, Whitehall Hub). The size of big corporate organisations like P&G can be a barrier to some internal innovation. “If the amount of money that we can potentially make from an idea is too small it won’t be developed in P&G, these ideas or projects won’t progress however we will consider sharing these opportunites with smaller organizations who can make appropriate returns from them – the other side of the Open Innovation coin”, commented Mike Addison, new business developer at P&G. Scott Hobbs at Amey suggests “it is often the ability of people to effectively articulate ideas that is a key barrier. Also at an early stage, they are asked to ‘prove an idea’ can deliver benefit which is often difficult at an early stage.” Key findings: Results suggest that the concept of an ‘innovator’ at the individual level is often burdened by negative stereotypes. Su Maddock argues, “the word ‘innovation’ is not helpful at the level of individual…it suggests stereotypes and a ‘done over there syndrome’”. Peter Spurgeon, Professor of Health Services Management at Warwick University notes the lack of tools to “spot and support individual innovators in the NHS”. He agrees that the ‘innovation’ label is not helpful. This view is shared by several of our interviewees who are concerned about the stigma attached to the term innovator and the lack of shared meaning assigned to it. Consequently, several of our case study organisations have made the conscious choice to avoid the term innovation as it is can be counter-productive, choosing instead to refer to innovation with a variety of terms such as ‘continuous improvement’, ‘fresh thinking’, or ‘diverse thinking’. • Interviewees and survey respondents highlight the importance of embedding innovation within organisational values, through organisational initiatives. ‘Individual and team incentives or reward programmes that encourage innovation’ and ‘work time devoted to developing new ideas’ are reported among the most effective initiatives for facilitating innovation. • Almost one in three organisations surveyed identified ‘individual incentives or reward programmes that encourage innovation’ as one of the top most effective interventions for boosting innovation. However, less than a third make use of such reward programmes or directly link their appraisal system to innovation. • A small number of interviewees mentioned the use of financial rewards with the majority mentioning intrinsic rewards based on recognition, status, and reputation. • Interviewees said flatter organisations and structures promote innovative working and are described as less common in larger, public sector organisations. • Both interviewees and survey respondents highlighted the importance of valuing risk within organisations with a quarter of survey respondents considering ‘tolerance of failure and promotion of risk taking’ as a top catalyst for innovation. • The three most common working practices cited by survey respondents to facilitate innovation were ‘managerial support’; a ‘we’re in it together’ attitude; and ‘strive to acquire a reputation for innovation’. • Respondents from public sector organisations cited fewer working practices conducive to innovation. • A lack of resources was reported as the main barrier to innovative working (e.g. ‘perceived excessive financial constraints’, and ‘lack of time’).
Implications: • An organisational culture that supports innovation is tolerant of failure and values risk taking. These practices were reported as less evident in public sector organisations. • Many organisations reported that innovative working should be recognised and rewarded. However, financial rewards are not necessarily the most effective HR policy. • Innovative working must be supported at all levels with leaders responsible for encouraging and reinforcing it. This is particularly important in the public sector where hierarchical structures are more prevalent. • Leaders/managers should reinforce the importance of innovative working in their everyday management practices. • Organisations should consider introducing team incentives, found to be a significant predictor of employee-level idea generation. • Public sector organisations should consider reviewing working practices to promote innovative working. 29
Page 1 and 2: Research report: December 2009 Ever
Page 3 and 4: Executive summary The imperative to
Page 5 and 6: significant challenges in facilitat
Page 7 and 8: Box: Leadership and management styl
Page 9 and 10: • To use this framework to integr
Page 11 and 12: or a ‘sheep dip’ training cours
Page 13 and 14: Figure 1: Response to the current e
Page 15 and 16: Public sector innovation The Whiteh
Page 17 and 18: Part 3: Characteristics and behavio
Page 19 and 20: talented individuals looking for a
Page 21 and 22: Part 4: Organisational factors infl
Page 23 and 24: the rewards were more intrinsic, ba
Page 25 and 26: Table 2: Working practices cited as
Page 27: innovation. Our results suggest tha
Page 31 and 32: Table 4: Catalysts to innovation Ba
Page 33 and 34: Figure 4: Challenges with managing
Page 35 and 36: factors conducive to innovation. Th
Page 37 and 38: A measure of characteristics and be
Page 39 and 40: A diverse workforce is key to promo
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Page 43 and 44: Key findings: • Organisations ten
Page 45 and 46: Assertion 2. Innovative working is
Page 47 and 48: Appendix B: Creating an innovation
Page 49 and 50: Key success factors for promoting i
Page 51 and 52: Resources Employees Leadership and
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